One Public

One Public explores the contemporary story of one of the most influential theatres in America.  While the study covers the colorful history of The Public from its founding by Joseph Papp, the focus of the manuscript is the trajectory of a theatrical impulse, and how the Public nurtures plays from the workshop phase to the main stage, and often on to Broadway. One Public provides a unique and intimate account of the process of play development since it is a case study driven and guided by interviews with some of the greatest theatre makers in the country.  For several years, I was embedded at the company as a resident scholar and interviewed scores of artists, scholars, and luminaries, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kevin Kline, Samantha Power, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Chelsea Clinton and over one hundred others.

The core of the study is the most recent artistic director, Oskar Eustis, and his determined effort to advance the progressive and even socialist ethos of Joe Papp.

The book’s title reflects the impossible goal of creating an institution that is built to serve all people—true to the founding ethic of the nation—while battling increasingly hostile national politics.  The first edition ended with the covid pandemic, and this second edition has allowed me to include updates about the fallout from that crisis, and an extensive afterword that addresses how the rise of hyper-conservative politics has affected the company and American theatre writ large.